Today, U.S. auto manufacturer General Motors unveiled the official production model of their long-awaited Chevy Volt; a new generation electric car that runs off of a bank of batteries rather than an internal combustion/hybrid engine. In this design, the lithium-ion battery system will power the vehicle for 40 miles, and a flex-fuel powered generator will power to the batteries for an additional 320 miles. It will take 10 hours to fully charge the battery system, and the flex-fuel motor will achieve 50 miles per gallon (using a 12-gallon fuel tank) if the batteries are fully discharged, or 150 mpg with the batteries fully charged.

This is a big step for the U.S. auto manufacturers. GM had an earlier model that was all electric, though it was made in only a small supply and was not very efficient. The goal is to eventually create an all-electric car that does not require the consumption of oil; a sentiment shared by many including Barack Obama and John McCain. So what is required to achieve this?

Batteries – If we are taking a non-hydrogen/chemical fuel cell approach, we need to develop a batter that is capable of holding a large charge without being too heavy. The current lithium-ion battery is the most practical model at the time, but we are still limited by size and storage capacity. Additionally, lithium-ion batteries are expensive and not environmentally friendly to recycle. One possible alternative is a super-capacitor rather than a traditional battery. EEStor is developing such a capacitor that can be charged in a matter of minutes while providing a higher storage capacity for just a few hundred pounds.

Power supply – Simply creating electrical cars will not take us off the need of oil. While we don’t use oil to provide most of our power supply, it is used in some locations, and with the increase in electrical demand will result in the need for increased electrical supply. While we can continue to consume oil and natural gas for power generation, nuclear power is the optimal technology currently available that can meet the demand. The concern with nuclear power is stability and waste. For all the concern regarding nuclear safety, the world has actually had a great run with nuclear power with only a handful of incidents, and only one being catastrophic. Future plants can be constructed in unpopulated areas to minimize and potential risk of exposure if there is a plant failure. Additionally, new reactors known as “Pebble Bed Reactors” are more stable and compact due to the way the fuel is formed and supplied into the reaction chamber. Graphite spheres encase small amounts of uranium. Due to this design, the risk for ‘meltdown’ is minimized greatly.

These two items are the major roadblocks to bringing about a new age in U.S. automobiles. But let us not deceive ourselves. If we are able to bring about the new capacitors for the electric cars and we build new nuclear power plants, we are still going to need a lot of oil. Why? There will still be traditional internal combustion engine cars on the road that will require gasoline. People cannot practically just go out and buy a new vehicle; especially if the initial models being released are cost prohibited to the consumers. We experimented with tax breaks for people buying hybrid cars, and we might have to do the same with electrical cars. We don’t yet know what the market price for the Chevy Volt will be, but it might be an indicator of how expensive the next generation cars will be and if the government (that being, the taxpayers) will need to subsidize the first few thousand car buyers.

Related articles:
Physorg – “Safe Nuclear Power and Green Hydrogen Fuel”
EEStor Batteries – Official Website
Wired – “Next-Gen Car Batteries Promise Longer Life, More Power”
USA Today – “Chevy Volt concept offers 150 mpg, but the plug-in hybrid needs a new technology”
CNN Money – “GM debuts the Chevy Volt”

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